End of term

I am so pleased that it is the last day of term today. The children finish at 12, so if the weather remains dry we will be heading for the beach with some of the other mums and children. Yippee!

Why are the last few weeks of term so frantic? It seems crazy.

Any way, I was asked to make (and got paid) the teacher presents for my daughters class this year. Her class teacher went off on long term sick in February and we had two supply teachers sharing the job for the rest of the year. Along with the three teacher there is a teaching assistant as well. So all in all 4 presents to make.

I made aprons for all of them with a cute pocket.

The pocket detail represents the children’s uniform. It is not perfect, but still I think they are a nice keepsake. 

And here’s a close up.

So here’s to the long summer holidays, I hope you all have fine weather and good times.

Until next time…….

Bibs for a precious baby

A friend of mine in Dubai had to have her baby at 34 weeks on Monday because they were worried about the babies development and felt she would do better out in the world. Well the little darling is only 1.7kg, which must be tiny since my 2 were 4.2kg at birth. She will be in ICU until she reaches 2kg but is doing well. 

Last week we were able to see this friend before she gave birth, and give her a little gift. I made these cute bibs which she was delighted with, and they were the first gifts she had received.

Hearts

Well, we had a lovely holiday in the sun. It was good to be back in Dubai, the weather was stunning, the hotel was gorgeous and we ate like kings. I managed to catch up with lots of old friends which was wonderful, so all in all a perfect week away. 

I made these two felt hearts for the daughters of one of my good friends in Dubai. They are 5 and 3 and are such sweet little girls. My two children had a ball playing with them, and are already asking when we can see them again! I wish I could say it could be today, but alas back to normality and school for us today.

 

Until next time…..

Treats from America

My husband recently travelled to Boston for a training course at Harvard. All I asked was, could he get some maple syrup because we are partial to Nigella Lawson’s Banana Buttermilk pancakes on the weekend. Who can have pancakes without maple syrup anyway?

Well we had a lovely surprise when he opened his bag. What a treat! He bought some maple syrup, maple and cinnamon triple nut butter, hot cocoa mix and 2 charming magazines. I simply love the Martha Stewart cover, I love pink, and displaying flowers in a jug, plus it just shouts spring to me. 

Despite the maple syrup being quite expensive, don’t you just love the bottle. Too irresistible to pass up.

Thanks darling, shame you have no more trips planned!!

Crochet and a successful gift

So you want to know here I do my crochet, hey?

Well I sit in this chair, mainly at night, because I like to sew during the day. ( I will show you my sewing room another day). This spot gets lots of light from that large lamp and there is also a lamp on the side table, so I can see what I am doing. I am still not sure how big I should make it, I just think I will keep going until I am satisfied that I will be snugly and warm on a chilly night. I also don’t think the hex blanket will live on the back of this chair when it is finished but at the moment I love walking into the lounge and seeing it’s splendid colourful self staring at me. 

Speaking of colourful things – this pretty drawstring bag was a hit with my daughters 5 year old friend the other day. It was her birthday and I made a headband and some hair bands in the spotty fabric. 

 

Until next time……

Apron in an hour …..

Yep, sorted.

I downloaded Jona’s quick pattern yesterday and it really is super quick. I love the fabric combinations on this, and I hope my friend does to. It’s her birthday next week and we are going out to celebrate tonight, she loves to cook, so I hope she likes this. 

Drawstring Bag

I don’t know about you, but I have bits and bobs lying around all over the house. Things that are needed regularly but which look untidy and unsightly just left out. So I thought I would transform this 

into this

So all those bits have a pretty home!

Infact my daughter has a friends birthday party to attend on Saturday so I have decided to make a similar one for her. I will show you when I get round to making it!

until next time……

Christmas Treats

Just look at the fabulous goodies above, sent from a friend in Minnesota, yummy. I love the postman, well not LOVE him,  but love it when he rings the bell with goodies – you know what I mean! The little ones can not wait until we have time to make the gingerbread house, and neither can I, I am a child in an adult body.

I have been busy today finally making the Christmas puddings. I have put off making them, and then was overcome yesterday with a desire and a will to get them done but after weighing out most of the ingredients I was missing 2 crucial items: sugar and eggs. How did that happen? Never mind, the local shop had the necessary items and ta-da I have 3 puddings. We don’t eat all 3 on Christmas day, I mean we do love this delicious traditional pudding but even we can only manage one on THE day. The puddings keep for quite a while so the other ones will be used up in the coming few months.

Then I had a bash at making marzipan because I couldn’t find what Brits call marzipan in Holland so I made some. I need to make the royal icing to cover it, but I can not find any glycerine to keep the icing from setting rock hard, so I will have to ice it nearer to Christmas Eve when we will have the first slice with the essential piece of cheese.

Until next time…..

What a difference a day makes

I managed to tick a few things off my to do list so that feels good. All this despite the puppy being sick, I had to take him to the Vets this afternoon, after he spent Sunday feeling sorry for himself and vomiting a fair bit, but it appears that the injection she gave him has made him feel a bit better.

Towards the end of last week I made a couple more gifts for Christmas. These aprons are super quick to whip up and they suit their recipients just perfectly.

Maybe next time the post will be a bit longer, but i am tired and need to go to bed.

Until next time….

Time flies

Where does time fly to – because I need to get some back! I love the build up to Christmas but I am never organised enough. I write lists, then re write them, and all of this to-ing and fro-ing makes me feel better but in the end I just need to get on with it. 

I have a busy weekend coming up, my parents are traveling to The Netherlands from the Uk so we will all be super busy, especially because Saturday is completely ties up with children’s activities. We have rugby in the morning and a ballet performance in the afternoon. My daughter is so excited about the ballet especially because her teacher is also performing with them and she is wearing pointes! Every little girls dream, hey?

I just about completed all the Christmas gift shopping yesterday. (Just 2 left)  My husband took the day off and we headed off in to our local town. It is so different shopping in The Netherlands near Christmas as the shops are amazingly quiet and calm. It was so good to have my bag carrying husband with me because there is no way I could have carried all those bags by myself, because even his hands hurt and he never complains.

Finally I wanted to show this picture taken in December last year when we had a heavy frost. The weather here is cold now and I love looking at these pictures, they make me feel festive.

I have added a list in my sidebar of some of the free tutorials out there, I have already made a few of them, and I will endeavour to make a few more once this crazy busy time of year is over.

Until next time..